Where There's Smoke
by StrangeIsNotACrime
Summary: My tag to His Thoughts Were Red Thoughts. Grace's thoughts on her encounter with Stiles. Own nothing, please read.


**Hey guys, me again. I was so shocked at last week's episode! Naturally, I had to do a tag. Thanks to the lovely StephB for the beta. Pleeeeaseeee review people, keeps me writing. Love you all :D**

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Wait until the red smoke forms a cloud in your mind. Then breathe it out.

Get rid of it all.

All the doubt, the anger, the fear (his words- how did he know what she was feeling?) being expelled through her lips.

It was a welcome feeling for her.

'_You're upset.' She looked up, fixing him with a stare as he continued. 'Something small, domestic. A household problem.'_

Huh, yeah. That was about right. Household problem. Bastard landlords. At least at home there were men around who could fix things. A lick of paint or a broken oven she could have sorted out herself, but she had never trusted herself to do her own plumbing. Not since the incident with the washing machine..

'_A petty dictator no doubt, abuses you because he can..'_

'_No, because he's a jerk. He won't fix-!' She caught herself before she went off on one. She always seemed to land herself in some kind of trouble when she got angry and now really wasn't the best moment, not when she was trying to convince her boss that she wasn't going off the rails. They both smiled at the realisation of her sudden insecurity. _

'_You're good. Not as good as Jane, but good.'_

'_Hmm.' His watery blue eyes never lost focus on her hazel ones. 'The anger that you feel is a symptom of a deeper condition. An organic rage if you will. You know..' His voice became a little breathier as he stepped closer to her. 'I can help you with that.'_

'_Not interested.'_

And she wasn't. Visualise was a cult. Cults were bad. She'd grown up with a firm belief in God, a belief that she had practically inherited from her mother, but she had never felt the urge to join any religious movement beyond the Church. The idea of a cult was a scary one for her. All those people knowing her darkest, most intimate secrets? People forcing her to do things against her will (again), people expecting her to cut off contact with the outside world? Not that it would be a huge issue for her at the moment.

'_Close your eyes.'_

She had been reluctant at first, but she'd done it, waiting until he'd done the same before opening hers and watching him. She rolled her eyes at his words.

'_Red smoke? Seriously?'_

'_Hm. Your choice.'_

It was. It was her choice. She hadn't been able to take back as much of the control she'd once had in her life. Since she'd shot Craig, she had found a lot of her decisions being made for her. What could she do? She had tried desperately to pick up the pieces of her shattered soul and glue her life back together but it wasn't working. Her glue wasn't strong enough. But it had to be her own glue. The last time she had let someone put her back together, she had fallen apart again. She knew in her heart that at first, her relationship with Craig had been a sort of rebound after her break up with Rigsby but she had grown to love him. She had fallen in love- deeply, truly, helplessly. And she wished more than anything that she hadn't.

'_You said you'd fix it!' She practically growled the words down the phone, her teeth clenched and her fingertips turning white from her hard grip on the device. She was worried that she'd throw it against the wall if he annoyed her anymore. 'Do you have hot water at your place? Yeah, it's nice, isn't it?' She felt anger bubbling in her stomach and decided to get out while she still had control over her temper. 'Fine whatever.' She hung up the phone and brought it down to her side, taking a deep breath as she did so. After all, it couldn't do any harm.. _

It really had helped. She had never expected it to, but it had. She had done breathing and relaxation exercises at her yoga classes but nothing had worked as quickly as that. She found her mind clearer in an instant. She was pretty sure she hadn't felt so calm in a long time.

'_He's trying to get to you.' _

Lisbon's words unnerved her a little. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Deep down, she knew it was true but she hated to admit it. She also hated to admit that it might be working.

'_Hello, Grace. You look refreshed. You tried my little trick then?'_

'_No.' The lie rolled off her tongue easily, just like so many others had since that day._

'_Works though, doesn't it?' He smiled slightly, a twinkle in his pale eyes. Dammit, how had he caught her out so easily?_

She had never considered herself to be a 'see through' person. People couldn't always read her. Well, some people could. Her Dad could. Her old best friend could. Jane could. Craig cou- No, had. He had. To the rest of the world, the intrepid jungle that was her mind was out of bounds. That was how she liked it. But now he was in there, penetrating her mind, reading her thoughts. It scared her.

'_Did you kill him?'_

'_You've killed too. Someone who mattered to you, who hurt you. Did you enjoy it?'_

_A wave of nausea washed over her. How could he even ask her that? _'_No.'_

'_Really? I'm told it gives a feeling of great perspective, like waking from a dream.'_

'_It..' She thought for a moment. 'It changes you.'_

'_Did your friends notice?' _

'_A little, but I think it freaks them out.'_

Freaked them out. Yeah, it had freaked them out alright. Cho seemed to have even less to say to her than usual. Jane didn't treat her like a friend anymore. She was just a colleague to him now, just another agent on the team. He didn't even call her by her first name anymore. Just Van Pelt. Rigsby.. Well, he was a little awkward but he still tried to act like a friend, laughing and joking with her, chatting like normal. But it wasn't the same. Something was missing. The news of Sarah's pregnancy had put a strain on them as well but he didn't treat her as differently as they'd expected. Lisbon had tried to understand, she knew that. She'd tried to help her but she'd pushed her away, trying desperately to convince herself that she didn't need her boss's help. Out of all of them, it was probably the bond she missed the most. But they hadn't really noticed just how different she really was now.

'_You know, you're like a little bird that fell out of the nest. But you don't need the nest. You need to fly. And that,' His voice lowered slightly. 'I can teach you.'_

She wanted to say yes, to let him teach her and help her grow. She needed someone to help her fly because, quite frankly, she wasn't sure she could do it on her own anymore.

'_So, that's it then. Thank you for letting me watch this.'_

_She smiled. 'No problem. Visualising my anger works really well. Just returning the favour.'_

'_There's so much more that I could teach you.' He took a step closer to her and she found herself leaning away slightly. It frightened her a little how close he was. In more ways than one. _

'_Is there?'_

'_To be free of doubt, anger, fear. Let me show you the world as you've never seen it. Let me show you _you _as you've never seen yourself.' _

'_Great sales pitch. But I'm sort of over bad boys these days.' She smiled and leaned in, her glossy lips meeting his wrinkled old cheek. 'Thanks anyway.'_

She had no idea why she'd kissed him. God, this was bad. This was really bad. He was a dangerous man, she knew that, and yet something inside her was forcing her to trust him. There was a somewhat soothing element to his voice that she hadn't noticed before, something that just made her want to sit and talk to him for ages. He had an almost captivating air about him, an air that drew her in like a moth to a flame. A million thoughts ran through her head. She knew Brett Stiles wasn't safe, but what if he could help her? Maybe he could teach her a couple more of his techniques. Just something, anything to make her feel okay again. Even if it meant facing her worst nightmares.

**Thanks for reading peoples, would really appreciate a review. Once again, message with requests if you want and I'll balance it with coursework and stuff. You guys rock :) **


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